Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



3 Sheets-Sheet 1. I. HARTSHORN.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented Mar. 31, 1863.

Inventor.

Witnesses.

N. FEKERS, Plicmumocmuafl. WASHINGTON D c 3 Sheef0sSheet 2.

I. HARTSHORN. I

Breech-Loading 'Fire'Arm.

No. 38,042. Patented Mar. 31, 1863.

Inventor; Witnesses,

- s Shefis-Sheet s. 1. HARTSHORN.

- Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.. NO. 38,042.

Patented Mar. 31,1863.

Fig-.11.

Z ni 3% witnesses.

lJNrTnn S'rarns ATENT Unmet...

ISAAC HARTSHORN, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 3,(Ml '2, dated March 31, 1863.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC HARTSI-IORN, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Ithode Island, have invented certain Improvements in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a plan of a rifle with my improvements attached, a portion of the barrel and stock being removed; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same, one of the sides of the breech, which form the box or receiver in which the movable cartridge-block is operated, being removed to show this block and the parts immediately connected therewith. The bore of the barrel and the cartridge, as well as the breech-pin and the passage through it from the nipple to the cartridge-chamber, are represented in this figure in broken lines. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the center of the cartridge-block and barrel and a portion of the stock, the details of the lock being omitted; Fig. 4:, a vertical section upon the line so a: of Fig. l, passing through the car-' tridge-block and breech-pin and the springbolt which holds the latter in place. This section is taken with the parts in the position which they occupy when the cartridge is in its chamber, by which the breech-pin is thrown back against the action of its spring-bolt. The position of this section is indicated by'the line :0 w of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a rear View of the cartridge-block and breech-pin; Fig. 6, a transverse section on the line. y y of Fig. 2, Fig. 7 is the removable bolt or pin which secures the link 0 to the forward part of the breech and forms the joint a. Fig. 8 is aview of the link 0 detached. Fig. 9 is a view of the metallic cartridge-case; Fig. 10, a section through the cartridge; Fig. 11, an elevation of the bolt 1- enlarged.

My present improvements are particularly applicable to the rifle for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to Ambrose E. Burnside on the 25th day of March, A. D. 1856, in which the cartridge-block is brought up to abut against the rear of the barrel, so that the axis of the cartridge-chamber shall coincide with the axis of the barrel. In this rifle a metallic cartridge-case is employed, which remains behind in the cartridgechamber aft-er the gun is discharged, and requires to be removed by hand before the insertion of a fresh cartridge. As it has been heretofore constructed, when the cartridge-block was swung away from the barrel, the mouth of the cartridge-chamber descended so low between the sides of the breech as to render it inconvenient to withdraw the empty cartridge-case and insert the full one with that celerity which was at times desirable.

The first part of my invention has for its object to facilitate the manipulation of the gun in this respect; and it consists in connecting the cartridge-block with the breech by means of two joints, to each of which a limited motion is allowed-to one of them for the purpose of facilitating the entry of the ball into the end of the barrel, and to the other for the purpose of elevating the mouth of the cartridge-chamber to bring it into a more accessible position.

The stock R is connected with the barrel U by a breech of forged iron, which is mortised out to form a box or receiver in which plays the movable cartridge-block A. The breech P is secured to the stock by straps M and g and screws and the barrel is screwed into its forward end. The sides G of the breech form the sides or inclosing-w'alls of the receiver, which is open upon top and at the bottom.

The cartridge-block A is of steel, and is bored to form the cartridge-chamber, which is made conical to facilitate the extraction of the empty cartridge-case. The cartridge-block is secured to the guard-lever B by screws h, Fig. 3, and is 'connected with the barrel by means of the link 0, Fig. 8, one end of which is pivoted to the forward} part of the breech at a, and the other to the cartridge-block at b, so that the latter may turn upon either one of the two points a or b. As the lever B is carried down after the piece is discharged, it should at the same time be drawn slightly in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, by which its first motion is cansedto be round the joint (1 which facilitates the disengagement of the cartridgecase from the barrel. On the shoulders 5 and 6, Fig.3, coming in contact with each other, the motion around this joint is stopped, and the cartridge-block and lever B continue to revolve on the joint 12, by which motion the mouth of the cartridge-chamber is elevated to near the top of the breech, Fig. 3, and the empty cartridge-case L is brought the following manner: The rear end of the cartridge-block and breech-pin are curved,

. empty cartridge-case, which is thereby looswithin easy reach of the fingers, and may be readily withdrawn and replaced.- On the return of the cartridge-block to its firing position, it is essential that its first motion be round the joint I), in order to depress the mouth of the cartridge-chamber and bring the projecting ball in line with the bore of the gun, and then that it revolve around thejoint' a, in order to cause the ball and the projecting end of the cartridge to enter the rear of the barrel. This is also effected by drawing the guard-lever slightly backward, as above explained, at the same time that it is brought up. The cartridge-case, Fig. 9, is of metal, and is sufficiently thin and yielding to allow it to expand slightly at the instant of the discharge, to pack the joint between the cartridgechamber and the barrel. The cartridge is so adapted to the cartridge-chamber that when placed therein and the cartridgeblock is brought up into its firing position it shall fit snugly into the chamber and force back the breech-pin F, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 4. The nipple d is then brought immediately beneath the hammer. The passage from the nipple to the cartridge is seen in broken lines in Fig. 2, the flame entering a small hole in the rear end of the cartridge. The movable-breech-pin F is allowed a slight motion in and out of the cartridge-chamber for the following purpose: It has already been stated that the breech-pin is forced back by the cartridge when the cartridge-block is brought into its firing position. On the discharge of the piece the conical cartridge-case L, Fig. 9, is driven more tightly into its conical chamber, Fig. 3, and in order to loosen it, so that it may be withdrawn by hand, the breech-pin is projected forward as the cartridge-block is withdrawn from the barrel, in

Fig. 2, with the point a as a center. They are then cut away, as seen at f, Fig. 5, and as indicated in broken lines at f, Fig. 2, to permit them to pass the end 9 of the trigger-strap g", which projects into the path of the cartridge-block and breech-pin, as seen in Fig. 3. On the withdrawal of the cartridge-block for the purpose of removing the empty cartridge-case, the projection g does not come in contact with the cartridge-block nor with the breech-pin until the part m, Fig. 5, strikes it, when the breech-pin is forced in, and the ened, may then be withdrawn by hand.

In order to retain the breech-pin in the position shown in Fig. 3, to prevent the cartridge-case from becoming again fast in the chamber after it has been loosened by the proj ection g, and also that it may be readily removed for the purpose of cleansing it, without the necessity of using a screw-driver or other tool, I employ a peculiarlyarranged spring-bolt, r. (Seen in section in Fig. 4 and in elevation in Fig. 11.) The bolt works in a cylindrical hole in the rear portion of the car tridge-block A, and has attached to it a head, 0. To its lower end is secured a collar, n, against which rests one end of aspring, p, the opposite end of which bears against a collar, 10, that is confined to the block A by a screw, 2, passed in from the outside. WVhen the bolthead 0 is in the position represented in Figs. at and 5, it bears against the breech-pin and holds it in the position represented in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 is drawn with the cartridge in the gun. Consequently the breech-pin is thrown back, the spring 19 yielding for the purpose. When it is desired to withdraw the breech-pin, for the purpose of cleansing, it is simply necessary to raise the head 0 out of the recess in the breech-pin into which it fits and to turn it into the position represented in red, Fig. 5. when the breech-pin may be instantly withdrawn.

For the purpose of holding the cartridgeblock immovable at the time the gun is discharged, the following device is employed: A latch, H, pivoted to the lever B, is maintained in the position seen in the drawings by a spring, I. This latch engages with a catch, K, secured to the breech, and by this means the cartridgeblock is held immovable until it is unlocked by hand. This is effected by the thumb at the instant when the guard is grasped to swing down the cartridge-block, the pressure of the thumb first releasing the latch and the continued pressure carrying down the guard-lever.

. The cartridge-block A, guard-lever B, and link G are secured to the gun by means of a bolt, a, Figs. 2 and 7, upon which the link 0 turns. This bolt has a lip, k, which fits into a corresponding recess in the breech, as seen dotted in Fig. 2, and is retained in the position represented in this figure by a pin, .9, Fig. 2, which fits in the hole 8, Fig. 3, and is forced up in advance of the arm T by aspring.

When it is required to remove the cartridgeblock for the purpose of cleansing or repairing it, it is simply necessaryto depress the pin 8, when the arm T may be swung into the position represented in red in Fig. 2, which clears the lip 7c of its recess and allows the bolt (0 to be withdrawn, by which the link 0 is disconnected from the breech.

For the purpose of preventing the corrosion which might take place between the breechpin and the cartridge-block in which it slides, which would cause the pin to adhere to the block and prevent the former from working freely in and out, a thimble or bushing, h", of unoxidizable metal or hard alloy, is inserted in the rear of the cartridge-chamber and is kept in place by screws, one of which is seen at c, Fig. 4. The proportions which have been found to answer best for this alloy are as follows: sixty parts, by weight, of copper; twenty parts of nickel; twenty parts of zinc. This alloy resists the explosive force and the heat, and vis not itself materially injured by oxidation.

The cartridge-case which I employ is stamped and spun up of brass, or of some metal that is sufficiently soft or yielding to permit it to pack the joint between the barrel and the cartridge block by the expansion of its mouth.

A short distance back of its mouth there is an i enlargement, t, which fills the enlargement in the advance end of the cartridge-chamber, and in the rear of the bore of the barrel. At its rear end there is a small hole, 1), for the entrance of the fire from the cap, which is closed by wax, or in some other suitable manner, and the powder is introduced, as seen in Fig. 10. A wad, Z, is then placed upon the powder, and the ball, after being tallowed, is inserted, and

the case is closed around it by pressure ap plied by any suitably-formed press or swage.

\Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The link 0 and joints a and 6, whereby the cartridge-block 1's first withdrawn from the barrel, and the mouth of the cartridge-chamber is then elevated, as described.

2. The bolt 1', arranged and operating as described, for the purpose set forth.

- ISAAC HARTSHORN.

Witnesses:

M. PIATT, HENRY MARTIN. 

